A bean by any other name would be a chick pea or a bengal gram.
After all these burgers, I need some vegetarian meals in my life. Dried beans are a wonderful base to many culture's vegetarian offerings. Full of fiber and loaded with protein, this naturally low in fat food is mild enough for kids and filling enough for the man at your table.

This past weekend I cooked two large pots of garbanzo bean based meals; one an Italian soup and the other an Indian curry. I froze most of this in small one cup portions, full of broth and assorted vegetables. I also prepared a large pot of jasmine rice, which I also froze in 1/2 cup portions. Now my freezer is full of healthy meals when hunger strike.

Beans are a great addition to your diet. Garbanzo beans, also called chick peas or bengal gram, are so easy to prepare and work for sweet desserts, savory dishes and crunchy snacks. You can purchase them dried, which is the most economical however it is also the most time consuming. Or you can purchase garbanzo beans canned, which costs a bit more, but the beans are cooked and ready to use.

My favorite website and smart phone app for recipes is Epicurious. You can find hundreds of recipes for these wonderful legumes.

This list doesn't include the 1,000s of recipes you will find if you 'goggle' garbanzo bean recipe. So bean me up, Scottie! Add some culinary interest to your diet with garbanzo-chick pea-bengal gram beans.